The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1887-05-12

eslS I'M FW 6,0 W
"BoosTING" THEM Up.
Of sight of the tort, Col Cullen halted the
9jth, as he said, for one minute TO tighten
belts and get a drink. He formed the
regiment in two divisions, right IN front,
and also ordered forward two men 10 each
corner of The worm-tence in our front 10
overthrow the same at the order 10 march.
During this moments halt
TWO CANNON WERE FIRED
from Fort Harrison. The first shot passed
high overhead and down the road; the sec
Ond srack IN a large tree just at our flank
and bal few feet above the ground. The
crash of the second shell ended our short
one-minuie's halt The sharp voice OF Col.
Cullen brought that string of commands
that always portends tough job close at
hand, aud the 96.h stepped out into that
iatai field with column closed in mass, arms
al riSht-shOulder-shift, and at common
time.p
Just here a few items about my regiment,
and one item ior myself Daring the Sum-
mer Oi 1864 the y6th had lost heavily in
men, aud especially so IA officers AT
Cold harbOr, iOr instance, ii had only ii
Officers, and leil seven of these dead on the
field. Two companies-G and D-had be-
come entirely ObiItorated. We mad that day
three or four companies with no officers
present, and these NeIe lacked on TO the left
Hank OF other companies more fortunate.
Though nomlnaily Win @lght companies,
W. had bui l0ur company formations These
We're formed lDtO uwO divisions, and they
were small at that; i0r We hao crossed the
bridge mai ngAt with, all told, but 167
men. ] was then fiIsl Lieutenant OF CO. L
and an command Vi my company, with Co.
A tackled Oh as AN orphan These two
companies, vain & and k, formed the iirst
division, and as 4 outHnlled the Lieutenant
who had command Oi these two companies.
II thus happened tnat j reached the proud
esi position OF my iiie-to lead The first regi-
mental division In the assault on FOrt HaT-
IisOn.
As We stepped out into that open field The
sight WAS eH0agB 10 Nbiten the lils of the
brayest. ADUui lnree-lOurths of a mile be-
fore us, and stretching out OF sight 10 the
lett and night, WAS a line OF the heaviest
works
We HAD EVER FACED,
and crownIRg a iill Ia The center was a great
fort, divided from iTOnl 10 rear by a mighty
traverse 70 OF 80 ieel high. As far as we
could then see, there did not appear a de-
preston thai would shelter a rabbit. The
lori mounted three large black guns, two TO
the right and one 10 the leit OF the traverse
and about nalf a dozen smaller pieces. All
the guns fired over the parapet, and the
works seemed TO he full Of men.
The artillery opened at once but for the
first discharge their ann seemed 10 be too
high. A lew minutes later a second shell
from one Of the large guns on the right burst
lew rods In our front and low down. Ii
was spherical case" ii killed Color
Sergt Sweet and piled eight men-of those
nearest the flag ana all OF the FIRST division
On piece Of ground that you could almost
have covered with an army blanket But
the flag was instantly lifted, the gap closed
quickly, the COlHmn steadied, and our line
and step was good enough for battalion
drill
Soon other troops got into the field and
divided deaths iayors withss. But never
iheless II seemed as II our beautiful State
lag drew an unnecessary amount Of atten-
iioB.
When about halfway across tle field I
heard IN a sort Of lull one of my men mutter
ABOUT TIME FOR GRAPEl"
Hardly had the words been uttered when
one OF the big guns spoke, and out through
the white, wOOlly smoke that leaped from
lts throat rushed group OF black balls that
looked the size Of our modern baseball or a
trife larger, and they didn't seem to move
much faster They struck the ground - or
~ rods IN our 'front.' aud when they reached
the inst division were from knee 10 whist
high. dozen men yelled Look out!n
The men shed 10 the left and right lifting
their lpgG hstfb an nsv .s,,I
tonishment lodged them as easily as il they
had been cabbageheads. But the second
division had not the unObstrucied view that
We had, and these Misunderstanding halls
took of every limb they touched. Three or
iOur later doses OF these could be read ily seen.
but they came too fast 10 be lodged, and
their work was terrible
When we neared the "drawn nj the foot
OF the hail, for few rods only Col. Cullen
ordered dOuble-quick. From the track of
horse IN the mud of that draw 4 dipped
with my hand two OF three sips Of the best
water j ever tasted. Col Cullen's next order
was TO form at the brow Of the hill as far IN
an we could and be covered, and then al his
command 20 rise and fire at those gunners.
and then TO Get into that fort AS quick as
God will let you!n
All Of the seth had started up the hill as
The hTst OF the regiment In our rear began
20 arrive. The COlOnel's order was obeyed
except that the company and division for.
nation was ignored and the regiment formed
an two lines. The enemy were waiting for
us, and when We rose TO FIRE that yolley il
seemed as If there opened before us
THE VERY JAWS OF DEATH
yea, the mouth Of hell ITSELF I've mo idea